


We see the best in the midnight haze

by ShadowInTheBackground



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: #Kalum, 21 Today, And smile like you deserve to, And to everyone else, But this is for you, F/M, Happy Birthday Kris Kross, Happy Birthday from the UK, I hope you have a great day, So happy for you, Sorry I couldn't be there, You mean the world to me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-22
Updated: 2014-12-22
Packaged: 2018-03-02 22:06:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2827703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowInTheBackground/pseuds/ShadowInTheBackground
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Happy 21st birthday to the best Kitty Kat ever<3  <br/>If you're not Kris Kross there's not really any point in reading this:)<br/>#Kalum is the REAL OTP.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We see the best in the midnight haze

The music was loud and rampant the moment the girls pushed you through the door to the club, the lights shimmering and shining in a drunk-inducing haze around you as people grinded together and hands wandered to places that held more excitement than the drinks balancing precariously on the bar next to them but as you waded your way through, your sisters hand clamped in yours to lead you to the bar, you forgot all about them.  21.  You were 21 and the nervous butterflies that danced in your stomach at how those two numbers could mean so much yet be so little scared you but as you smiled for the camera with your face pressed to your sister’s as the flash went off, none of that mattered because you were there, you’d reached it: 21.

The alcohol was bitter and sweet on your tongue, the tang clinging to your tongue far too long for it to be enjoyable but all of your friends were buying you drinks to celebrate, sipping at them politely before passing them to your friends to enjoy instead; and as the night went on, your smile wide as you took in the new atmosphere that being 21 gave you, your eyes bright and pleased as you grinned at your sister across the dancefloor, watching as she smiled and got lost in the feel of the club, dancing and giggling as she danced around the floor.  

The music seemed to pump louder and the lights shine brighter the moment your friends started to enter onto the dancefloor, their breaths’ riddled with sweet, fruity alcohol that had not been on their tongues until a pack of guys had shown up and flashed their credit cards, so as they got increasingly drunk you stuck to water, watching them carefully to protect them from the dangers you’d heard about in clubs but never witnesses until now.  You knew the guys, having known the majority of the people in your town since birth, so you knew you could trust them, you were just unsure in this new atmosphere you appeared to have been abandoned in.

Turning on the little bar stool you’d been perched on all night you ordered a coke, tapping on the bar as you waited, smiling down at the multicoloured lights that lit up the length of the bar top, making all the variations of drinks littered across it chameleon, including your coke that was served to you looking pink under the red light of the bar.  Your hand slipped into your purse, pulling out the notes you’d need to pay, but the bartender was gone, taking someone else’s order as the guy next to you caught your eye and smiled, gesturing to the birthday badge your sister made you wear as he tucked his wallet back into his pocket.  “It’s only right you get a free drink on your birthday.”

You blushed, ducking your eyes and muttering a thank you before lifting the coke to your lips and swallowing slowly, licking the excess foam off of your top lip before blushing profusely when the nameless guy next to you smiled, his lips hiding an unvoiced laugh, his eyes bright with it.  You wipe at your lip with your hand for good measure to make sure it’s all gone when the guy continues to watch you, his lips tipped up in a smile as he teases his own drink in his hands, swirling it between his fingers on the tabletop.  “I’m Calum, by the way.”  He lifts his hand to yours, waiting for you to shake it, and you do, cheeks still a little flushed from how he looks at you, his eyes intent.  No one has ever look at you like that before and as you nibble on your lower lip nervously before you tell him your name you feel butterflies in your stomach, fluttering and bashing inside of you as he squeezes your hand, playing with your fingers on the counter top.

“So, Krissy, would it be rude to ask a beautiful girl what birthday she has the joy of celebrating today?”  Calum smiles, perching his chin on his fist, perching himself on the bar stool next to you as he wraps his hand around his glass, taking a small swig, his eyes as deep and dark as the alcohol in his glass making your heart pound as he captures you in them, stealing the words from your tongue like you were never going to prohibit him from knowing your age in the first place.  “Well, might I have the honour of wishing you an amazing 21st birthday, Krissy, with many more to come, I hope!”  He raises his glass, smiling with his tongue pressed against the back of his teeth as you lift your respective drink with a smile, leaning into him to clink them together.  “To Krissy!  The most beautiful 21 year old I’ve ever seen!” 

Your cheeks flame in seconds and it makes him laugh, leaning across the bar to stroke his finger across the arch of your cheekbone, telling you that it’s okay and not to be embarrassed and it takes everything in you not to blush again with the feeling of his soft fingers against your skin but the moment he pulls away and settles back in his seat, watching you with a broad smile, you can’t help but lean into him, kissing his cheek timidly, whispering a thank you that you hope he hears over the boom of the music around you.

He does, his hand taking yours on the bar with a timid smile.  “Is this okay?”  The slight quake to his voice makes you smile, squeezing lightly at his fingers as you nod, picking your drink back up to hide your smile behind its wide rim.  You watch each other for a while, seemingly just smiling at each other as the club carries on around you, the music loud and the bodies hot and sweaty around you with drinks smashing and crashing to the floor, leaving sticky patches on the dancefloor.

You talk amongst yourself for what feels like hours before your drinks run out and you hear the sound of your friends not that far from you, turning on your seat away from Calum to watch them and check they’re okay but they seem to look past you, sipping at their drinks and falling into nameless guys, making you frown.  “Are they your friends?”  You nod, turning back in your seat towards Calum, wandering your finger across the tabletop, sliding a beer coaster between your fingers.  “Why aren’t they over here celebrating with you?”  Again you shrug because really you’ve got no idea, as far as you were concerned you were going out for a meal, the reservation was booked and everything; all of which you tell Calum, hence why you end up outside of the little sushi restaurant, 2 hours later than the reservation had stated, waiting for a table to come clear as Calum tucks you inside of his denim jacket to protect you from the chill in the air, the musk of his scent clinging to you long after he’s slid it onto the back of his chair the moment you get a seat inside the restaurant.

Watching him eat sushi is hilarious, and you let him know, teasing him about it as he pokes at every piece he finds on his plate, asking what each bit is and asking you to explain what it tastes of before he eats it, resulting in him giggling and complaining how one of them tasted _nothing_ like pineapple and glugging back half of his drink, bright joy and excitement in his eyes as he makes you laugh harder than anyone has before. 

The meal comes to an end much sooner than you would have liked but as you eat the last few pieces of sushi between you and he hooks his foot around your ankle, his hand holding yours on the tabletop, it feels so romantic, despite the fact you only met him a few hours prior.  The restaurant is dimly lit with red and white tablecloths and silver cutlery that shines under the spotlights around the dining area, the chairs chic and modern whilst fishes swim around in large fish tanks across the walls of the room, light bouncing off of the expanses of water and dusting the room in an ethereal glow.  It’s magical and you let him know, tucking yourself into his side as you walk to the counter to collect the bill, his smile bashful as he hands over the money for you both, refusing to let you pay on your birthday, before he turns to you, resting his hand on your waist.  “Was there anything else you had planned for your birthday?”

It’s getting late by the time you reach the rink, and really, it’s hardly worth getting your skates on but you do anyway, despite complaining about it and Calum takes your hand the moment your skates are fastened to your feet, supporting you as you walk up to the rink and helping you on, despite the fact he’s the first one of your to fall over, having skated less than 10 laps of the rink, laughing both at himself and the fact he takes you down with him, you landing on his chest your face mere inches away from his as the moon shines high in the sky above you, the ice rink bare of skaters except for the pair of you as the clock on the tower in the distance beckons out into the night air, warding any sensible person to be tucked up in bed; but as Calum’s hands rest on your hips before stalking their way to your cheeks, there is nowhere else you’d rather be, nowhere safer or more secure than with him as he smiles at you, bashful despite his earlier confidence as he strokes a strand of your short hair off of your face, teasing his fingers into the locks as he tucks the hair behind your ear.  “Krissy, would it be okay if I kissed you?”

His hair is littered with blonde streaks between his natural locks of dark brown that shine under the floodlights of the ice rink, his breath coming out in a mass of fog due to the cold winter air as his denim jacket is wrapped around your torso, keeping you warm in his place.  His jeans are black and ripped at the knees and you smile at the memory of his laugh as you’d stuck your finger in the rips, poking and prodding and tickling his knees as he’d put on his skates, telling him how he looked like he’d already been the victim of a few skating accidents, before he’d wrapped you up in his arms and lifted you off the ground, balancing you on the end of his skates and going all _Titanic_ on you before blowing a raspberry against your neck, making you laugh and your cheeks flush.  You’d known him for mere hours but as he watches you with his lip caught between his teeth and the receipt for your birthday sushi and your necklace that you didn’t want to lose on the rink trapped in the cover of his iPhone, you knew, deep down, that time didn’t matter. 

Time is just something that ticks on forever, until there’s no more, and if you let it control you then you’ll end up as nothing, there will be nothing for you to smile, laugh or cry over, and if you have none of that to live for then there’s no point in carrying on; but the Australian boy - with his tongue pressed against the backs of his teeth and his lips chapped from the cold air of the rink as the ice melts into his Blink-182 shirt, leaving him shivering against you as his thick denim jacket is wrapped around your body and his arms are laid bare against the frozen ground - he’s a little piece of something, and pressing your lips to his softly, your knees slipping against the ice beneath you, he gives you hope that 21 will not be the age that you were dreading. 

You’d looked at it with a frown as it stole away that little piece of childhood you had left, but with Calum grinning against your mouth underneath you, his hands resting on the arch of your cheekbones before he slowly pulls your face away, grinning up at you with his whisky-coloured eyes, you see a little piece of your childhood.  You see fairground rides and candyfloss and toffee apples, days at the lake and barbeques in the garden, the sun shining down as you splash in puddles and run through the rain, the pitter patter of thunderstorms against your windowpane as you work your duvet around yourself, burrowing away and smiling into your pillows; you see everything, everything you thought you’d lose, but as Calum holds you, his fingers soft yet firm as the moon beckons down in the sky, everything is how you wanted it, with your Hood; the childhood he won’t ever let you lose.


End file.
